Studs for sports footwear and method of manufacture

ABSTRACT

A method of producing studs for sports footwear, in particular for use in football, is described; each stud comprises a body and a tip portion which can be fixed to the body, the tip portion of the stud being produced from a semi-finished tip formed by blanking from sheet metal.

[0001] The present invention relates to a method of producing studs for sports footwear, in particular for use in football, according to the preamble to the main claim. The invention also relates to studs produced by the method, as well as to sports footwear or to a sole provided with studs formed in accordance with the invention.

[0002] In football, it is known to use footwear with fixed or removable studs which vary in shape, size, number and arrangement, and which are selected by the footballer according to the various conditions of the pitch in order thus to achieve the best performance in any conditions which may be encountered during sports activities.

[0003] Footwear in which each stud is formed by a body of plastics material produced integrally with the sole or fixed thereto, for example, by a screw means, and bearing a tip, typically made of metal, at its free end, are known. The use of studs with metal tips has the advantage of substantially reducing the wear of the studs, thus avoiding frequent replacement thereof which, in the case of fixed studs, also requires the replacement of the footwear itself.

[0004] Studs of this type are typically produced by forming the tip of the stud by techniques such as pressing from bars, die casting, sintering, or precision casting. Although these known techniques can produce studs which are strong and abrasion resistant, they are unsuitable for the production of studs which can be marketed at low cost, also with regard to the complexity of the processes and of the tooling which they normally involve. Moreover, the studs and, in particular, their metal tips produced by the above-mentioned methods, are generally quite heavy.

[0005] The problem upon which the present invention is based is that of providing a method of producing studs for sports footwear which can prevent the problems complained of with reference to the prior art mentioned and which at the same time enables inexpensive, light-weight studs to be produced by relatively simple processes.

[0006] This problem is solved by the invention by means of a method of producing studs for sports footwear according to the appended claims.

[0007] The characteristics and the advantages of the invention will become clearer from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, described by way of non-limiting example with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

[0008]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a football boot provided with studs formed by the method of the present invention,

[0009]FIGS. 2 and 3 are a perspective view and a plan view, respectively, of a semi-finished tip for a stud of FIG. 1 in a first production step of the method of the invention,

[0010]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the semi-finished tip of FIGS. 2 and 3 during a second step of the production method.

[0011] In FIG. 1, a sports boot for use in football is generally indicated 1 and has a sole 2 with studs 3 produced by the method of the present invention. Moreover, the method is advantageously suitable for the production of both fixed and removable studs 3.

[0012] Each stud 3 comprises a body 4 which extends integrally from the sole 2 or is screwed into the sole by means, for example, of a threaded shank or other similar means, not shown, and which comprises, at its free end 4 a, a tip portion 5 which can be fixed to the body 4, as will be explained in greater detail below.

[0013] Each tip portion 5 is produced from a semi-finished tip 6 formed, in accordance with a first step of the method of the invention, by a blanking operation performed on sheet metal of a preselected thickness, indicated S in FIG. 2. The semi-finished tip 6 is preferably blanked from a stainless-steel sheet. With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the semi-finished tip 6 comprises a central portion 7 with a substantially circular profile from which three equiangularly-spaced radial appendages, all indicated 8, extend. A respective hole 9, the function of which will become clear from the following, is formed at the free end of each appendage 8, preferably during the blanking step.

[0014] In a subsequent step, the semi-finished tip 6 is subjected to a drawing operation in which the central portion 7 is deformed to form a hollow element (FIG. 4) defined by a base 7 a surrounded by a wall 7 b. During the drawing step, the appendages 8 are also bent substantially at right angles to the base 7 a. According to a preferred selection, the base 7 a is produced with a substantially triangular shape in plan, defining three sides 10 a, 10 b, 10 c from each of which a corresponding appendage 8 extends.

[0015] A further step of the method provides for the body 4 of the stud to be produced by injection moulding of a plastics material in a mould, not shown in the drawings, in which the semi-finished tip 6 (already drawn) is positioned beforehand so that, after moulding, the semifinished tip is at least partially incorporated in the body 4 in the region of the free end 4 a thereof, thus constituting the tip of the stud 3. During this moulding step, the hollow element of the semi-finished tip 6 is filled by the plastics material injected and the body 4 is also moulded over the appendages 8 of the semi-finished tip. During the moulding, the appendages 8 and the holes 9 constitute means for holding the tip of the stud in the plastics material injected into the mould so as to achieve good structural continuity as well as firm fixing of the tip 5 to the body 4 of the stud.

[0016] The invention thus solves the problem set, achieving the advantages set out above over known methods. In particular, the method of the invention produces studs with metal tips with characteristics of mechanical strength and abrasion resistance no worse than those of known methods but with considerably reduced weights and lower production costs. 

1. A method of producing studs for sports footwear, in particular for use in football, each stud comprising a body and a tip portion which can be fixed to the body, characterized in that the tip portion of the stud is produced from a semi-finished tip formed by blanking from sheet metal.
 2. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of drawing of the semi-finished tip to form a hollow element constituting the tip portion of the stud.
 3. A method according to claim 2 which provides for the further step of producing the body of the stud by injection moulding of plastics material, the body being moulded onto the tip portion so that the latter is at least partially incorporated in the body.
 4. A method according to claim 3 in which means are provided for holding the tip portion on the body of the stud.
 5. A method according to claim 4 in which the holding means comprise at least one appendage which extends substantially radially from the semi-finished tip.
 6. A method according to claim 5 in which at least one hole extends through the at least one appendage.
 7. A method according to claim 5 or claim 6 in which the at least one appendage is bent substantially at right angles to the semi-finished tip during the drawing step.
 8. A method according to one or more of claims 5 to 7 in which three radial appendages are provided, spaced at regular angular intervals.
 9. A method according to one or more of the preceding claims, in which the tip portion is blanked from steel sheet.
 10. A method according to claim 9 in which the tip portion is blanked from stainless steel sheet.
 11. A stud for sports footwear, particularly for use in football, comprising a body and a tip portion which can be fixed to the body, characterized in that the tip portion comprises a hollow drawn element produced by blanking from sheet metal.
 12. A stud according to claim 11 , in which the hollow element comprises a base and at least one appendage extending substantially at right angles from the base.
 13. A stud according to claim 12 in which the at least one appendage comprises at least one through-hole.
 14. A stud according to claim 13 , comprising three appendages extending substantially at right angles from the base and spaced at regular angular intervals.
 15. A stud according to one or more of claims 11 to 14 in which the tip portion is made of steel.
 16. A stud according to claim 15 , in which the tip portion is made of stainless steel.
 17. A stud according to one or more of claims 11 to 16 , in which the body of the stud is made of plastics material and the tip portion is at least partially incorporated in the body.
 18. Sports footwear comprising a sole with studs in which the studs are produced in accordance with one or more of claims 11 to 17 .
 19. Footwear according to claim 18 in which the studs are removable. 